Golf bag cuff



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M. KISH, JR

Nov. 8, 1966 GOLF BAG CUFF 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 31, 1965 VLI- M. KISH, JR

GOLF BAG CUFF Nov. 8, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 3l, 1965 United States Patent Olice Patented Nov. 8, 1966 3,283,793 GOLF BAG CUFF Michael Kish, Jr., Hightstown, NJ., assigner to Atlantic Products Corporation, Trenton, NJ., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Mar. 31, 1965, Ser. No. 444,158 8 Claims. (Cl. 15d-1.5)

This invention relates to a novel arrangement for the reinforcing band of a golf bag cuff, and is a continuationin-part of my copending application Serial No. 285,788, filed June 5, 1963, entitled Golf Bag Cuff, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, now Patent No. 3,230,992.

In my above noted application, a rigid band which is formed of a metallic extrusion is placed centrally of the golf bag cuff. The band has axially extending portions which are sufficiently thin to be directly sewn to the cuff of the bag. Thus, the reinforcing band is directly secured to the bag -to eliminate possible movement thereof with respect to the Gulf, while other portions thereof extend outwardly of the cuff to form abrasion surfaces. Moreover, the band has a single extending central portion which extends beyond the periphery of the cuff to prevent abrasion.

In accordance with the present invention, a novel abrasion-preventing ring is provided which has two spaced parallel extending abrasion surfaces which define a band-receiving surface therebetween which can receive a strip of material having the same design as the remainder of the cuff body.

The novel dual band construction provides an ex trernely rigid arrangement for the golf bag and provides a greater surface protection for the cuff in having spaced bands or rings than does the single band arrangement of application Serial No. 387,390, filed August 4, 1964, en-

Moreover, and in accordance with a further feature of the invention, the abrasion-prevention extrusion may be secured to the cuff body sections by crimping, or in another similar manner, as described in my copending application Serial No. 387,390, filed August 4, i964, en titled Method of Manufacture for Luggage and assigned to the assignee of the instant invention.

Furthermore, the novel golf bag cuff can be completely subassembled in the flat and the subassembly thereafter rolled to its tubular or enclosed shape, as described in the above noted oopending application Serial No. 387,390.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is to provide a novel reinforcing means for a golf bag cuit.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a novel dual abrasion ringstructure for a golf bag cuff.

A still fur-ther object or this invention is to provide spaced abrasion rings for a golf bag cuff which receive a strip of material therebetween of any desired nature.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel construction for golf bag cuffs which permit the cuff to be assembled in the dat and thereafter bent to its final form.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following description when tal/ren in connection with the drawings, in which:

FIGURE l schematically illustrates a side plan view of a golf bag having an upper and lower cuff.

FIGURE 2 is a side plan view of the body of the upper cud of FIGURE 1 before nishing.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional View of FIGURE 2 taken across the lines 3-3 in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a side plan view of the body of the lower cuff of FIGURE l before finishing.

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view of FIGURE 4 taken across the lines 5-5 in FIGURE 4.

a cuff adapted with prior art type reinforcing means.

FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view of FIGURE 6 taken across the lines 7 7 in FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8 illustrates a plan view of the cuff when constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 9 is a side cross-sectional view through one portion of the cuff of FIGURE 8 to illustrate the novel extruded dual band abrasion ring and the manner in which the ring is connected to the golf bag cuff panels.

FIGURE l0 is a partial cr0sssectional view of one of the panels of FIGURE 9, and illustrates the manner in which a finishing strip can be added to the panels.

FIGURE 1l illustrates a modification of the extruded member of FIGURES 9 and 10 to illustra-te the manner in which the panels can be secured to the extruded member by staking.

FIGURE l2 shows a further embodiment of the extruded member of FIGURES l0 and ll.

Referring first to FIGURE l, I have illustrated a typical golf bag therein which has a suitable. body 10 of tubular conguration, and which terminates in an upper cuff l1 and a lower cuff 12. Clearly, the lower cuff 12 will have a bottom wall, while the upper cuff 11 will have a hollow tubular arrangement. The upper and lower cuffs lll and l2 respectively are secured to the body It) in any desired manner as by sewing, illustrated by the stitch lines ITS-.i4 for upper cuff l1 and 15-16 for the lower cuff i2.

FIGURES 2 and 3 show the upper cuff body (before the cui? is provided with appropriate finishing materials) as comprised of a suitable material such as a fiber strip i7 which is beat in the form of the tube whose ends abut at abutting region I8 and are staplcd as by the staples 19.

This fiber tube could be formed in other ways. By way of example, the body 20 of lower cuff 12 is illustrated in FIGURES 4 and S and, again, may be a suitable fiber material, the ends of which overlap at overlapping portion 2l to form the tubular shape. The overlapping ends are then secured together as by appropriate rivets 22, 23 and 24, or in any other desired manner.

After the formation of the culf,previous practice has been to cover the liber body with an outer finishing sheath of material such as leather. Thus, in FIGURES 6 and 7, which illustrate ber body 17 for the upper cuff 11, a sheath 30 of leather or other suitable material is secured to the outer periphery of body 17. Note that all of the remarks in the following apply equally to the upper and lower cuifs.

In applying the sheath 30, the upper and lower ends 3l and 32 thereof are tucked `around body 17 and are glued to the inner surfaces of body 17 or are otherwise suitably secured thereto.

In order to now provide suitable rigidity to the cuff, it has been the common practice to form a steel band 33 which ts around the periphery of the cuff, as illustrated,

which is held in position by means of a leather strip 34 which is sewn above and below ring 33 to the body 17 of the culf on stitch lines 35 and 36 respectively of FIGURE 6. It will be noted that this arrangement results in the central portion of strip 34 extending beyond the periphery of the cuff. Therefore, leather strip 34 is subjected to great abrasive wear. Moreover, no matter how tightly fitting the leather strip 34 is with respect to band 33, there will be a certain amount of movement of band 33 to thereby cause internal abrasion on strip 34. For these reasons, the strip 34 is rapidly worn through, thereby requiring maintenance of the bag at frequent intervals and resulting in an unsightly appearance of the bag.

In accordance with my above noted patent application Serial No. 285,788, a reinforcing structure is provided for :9 the cuffs which will not be subject to destructive abrasive wear by virtue of a metallic ring which is sewn directly to the cuff and extends beyond the periphery thereof.

In accordance with the present invention, as shown in 1 FIGURE 8, the cuff 11 is provided with two spaced abrasion surfaces 60 and 61 extending therefrom and inserted between material portions 62, 63 and 64. A cross-sectional view of the cuff of FIGURE 8 is shown in FIG- URE 9 to more particularly illustrate the cuff construction.

Thus, in FIGURE 9, the abrasion surfaces 6d and 61 are integral portions of extrusion 65 which has an arched under-surface 66 for lending structural strength to the extrusion and extending side surfaces 67 and 68, respectively.

The side surfaces 67 and 68 define notches 69 and 70 in conjunction with the beads or extending surfaces 60 and 61, respectively, into which suitable material strips may be inserted. Thus, in FIGURE 9, fiber strips 71 and 72 are inserted into notches 69 and 70, respectively, and thus define the material portions 62 and 64 of FIGURE 8.

The extending abrasion surfaces 6th and 61 further define interior notches 75 and 73, respectively, which form a channel extending around the cuff which can receive a strip 74 of material which may be identical to strips 71 and 72. Thus, the strip 74 will define the bag portion 63 of FIGURE 8.

In the manufacture of the cuff, the complete cuff can be laid out in the fiat with the fiat cuff sections 71, 72 and 74 assembled with respect to the extrusion 65, as indicated. Thereafter, the extending bead sections 60 and 61 may be crimped downwardly to rigidly retain body 71 and 72 in the notches 69 and 70, respectively, thereby securing these 'bodies to the extrusion 65.

In addition, the outer surfaces of the flanges 67 and 68 may be serrated, as indicated by serrations 76a and 76h, respectively, to further aid in the gripping of the material 71 and 72.

Thereafter, the complete assembly may be rolled to its tubular form and the abutting sections joined in any suitable manner, as, for example, described in my above noted copending application Serial No. 285,788.

If desired, and as illustrated in FIGURE l0, the fiber members 71 and 72 can be finished with a suitable leather strip such as the leather strip 8f) which is cemented to the fiber body 71, thereby to produce a more attractive finish.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 10, it will be noted that the completely subassembled fiber body and leather strip are inserted directly into notch 69, and secured therein as by the crimping operation previously referred to.

In order to further improve the securement between the extrusion and the outer circular cuff bodies, and as shown in FIGURE 1l, it is further possible to stake the outer flanges directly into the fiber material. For example, in FIGURE 11, after the insertion of the fiber body 71 into the notch 69, a suitable punch may be used to punch a series of prongs such as prong 80 out of the flange 67 and directly into the material 71. Thus, a series of prongs will extend completely around the periphery of the fianges 67 and 68 so as to directly mechanically secure the bodies 71 and 72 to the extrusion 65.

FIGURE l2 illustrates a further embodiment of an extrusion such as the extrusion 82 which can be used in place of extrusion 65 of FIGURE 9. More specifically, the extrusion 82 of FIGURE 12 is provided with the extending abrasion surfaces 60 and 61 in the manner of FIGURES 8 and 9 which contain notches 75 and '73 which can receive a finishing strip.

-In the extrusion 82, however, the shallow notches 69 and 71 of FIGURE 9 are replaced by relatively deep notches 83 and 84 which extend inwardly toward one another and are separated only by a small bridge 85 of the extrusion. For example, the bridge 85 could have i a length of the order of 1A inch where the separation between the abrasion surfaces 66 and 61 are of the order of 1% inches.

Thereafter, the strips 71 and 72 are inserted into the deep notches 83 and 84, respectively, and may be secured thereto as by the usual crimping opertion, or, if desired, by staking as by the stakes 86 and 87 extending from flanges 67 and 68, respectively.

Clearly, the use of the deep notches 83 and 84 permit a more initimate bond between the extrusion 82 and the strips 71 and 72 when there is securement by crimping alone or in combination with the staking operation.

It is to be noted that the arrangement of FIGURE l2 could have general application to the securement of a pair of elongated panels in any type structure such as in luggage of the type shown in my copending application Serial No. 387,390 mentioned above.

Although the invention has been described with respect to its preferred embodiments, it should be understood that many variations and modifications will now be obvious to those skilled in the art, and it is preferred, therefore, that the scope of the invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only `by the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive privilege or property is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In a golf bag cuff; said bag cuff comprising a tubular body portion and axial-ly shaped first and second outer periphery covering sheath portions; a reinforcing member; said reinforcing member extending around the periphery of said tubular body portion and being interposed between said first -and second sheath portions; said reinforcing member having first and second parallel spaced extending bead portions extending radially beyond said first and second sheath portion; said extending bead portions being conected to a securing means receiving portion disposed beneath at least one of said first and second sheath portions.

2. In a golf bag cuff; said golf bag cuff comprising a tubular body portion an-d axially shaped first and second outer periphery covering sheath portio-ns; a reinforcing member; said reinforcing tmember extending around the periphery of said tubular body portion and being interposed between said first and second sheath portions; said reinforcing `member having first and second parallel spaced extending bead portions extending radially beyond said first and second sheath portions; said extending bead portions being connected to a securing means receiving portion disposed beneath at least one of said first and second sheath portions; the opposing bottom surfaces of said first and second extending bead portions -having inner reentrantly shaped sections; and a material strip extending coextensively with said reinforcing member; the respective sides of said material strip being disposed within said inner .reentrant shaped sections, respectively.

3. The device substantially as set fort'h in claim 1 wiherein the outer side edges of said first and second bead portions have reentrant shaped portions; said tubular body portion comprising a first and second portion axially coextensive with said first and second sheath portions; t-he opposing end of said first sheath portions and first body portions and said second sheath portions and second body portions disposed within said reentrant shaped portions of said first and second bead portions, respectively; the upper and lower surfaces defining each of said reentrant shaped portions being crimped inwardly into rigid engagement with their said respective body portions and sheath portions.

4. A cuff for a golf bag comprising -a tubular body member, an elongated reinforcing fmember extending about the outer periphery of said tubular body member, and a securing means for rigidly securing said reinforcing member directly to said o-uter periphery of said tubular body member; said reinforcing member having first and second parallel spaced extending bead portions extending outwardly and beyond the outer periphery of said cuff to define an abrasion surface; said elongated reinforcing member having axially extending side anges extending from the opposite sides thereof.

5. The device substantially as set forth in claim 4 wherein the outer side edges of said first and second bead portions have reentrant shaped portions; said tubular body portion comprising a rst and second portion axially coextensive with said rst and second sheath portions; the opposing end of said first sheath portions and rst body portions and said second sheath portions and second body portions disposed within said reentrant shaped portions of said first and second bead portions, respectively; the upper and lower surfaces defining each of said reentrant shaped portions being crimped inwardly into rigid engagement with their said respective body portions and s-heath portions.

6. The -device substantially as set fort-h in claim 5 wherein the opposing bottom surfaces of said first and second extending bead portions have inner reentrantly shaped sections; and a material strip extends coextensively with said reinforcing member; the respective sides of said reinforcing member; the lrespective sides of said material strip being disposed within said inner reentrant shaped sections respectively.

7. A tubular elongated lrigid rein-forcing member adapted for connection between spaced tubular -members having lesser rigidity than said reinforcing member; said reinforcing member comprising a generally flat elongated member comprising spaced upper `and. lower generally at r i portions joined by a centrally located t-hin web portion extending in the direction of elongation of said member and defining deep channels on the opposite sides of said member for reception of the ends of said tubular members; said upper portion 'having first and second raised parallel and spaced bead sections extending from the up pe-r surface thereof and disposed on opposite sides of said web.

8. The reinforcing member substantially as set forth in claim 7 wherein the opposing sides of said rst and second bead sections -have reentrant portions adapted to receive an elongated strip of material.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,902,644 3/1933 Hetze 15o-1.5 3,177,913 4/1965 Kish 150 1.5 3,230,992 1/1966 Kish 15o-1.5

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A GOLF BAG CUFF; SAID BAG CUFF COMPRISING A TUBULAR BODY PORTION AND AXIALLY SHAPED FIRST AND SECOND OUTER PERIPHERY COVERING SHEATH PORTIONS; A REINFORCING MEMBER; SAID REINFORCING MEMBER EXTENDING AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF SAID TUBULAR BODY PORTION AND BEING INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID FIRST AND SECOND SHEATH PORTIONS; SAID REINFORCING MEMBER HAVING FIRST AND SECOND PARALLEL SPACED EXTENDING BEAD PORTIONS, EXTENDING RADIALLY BEYOND SAID FIRST AND SECOND SHEATH PORTION; SAID EXTENDING BEAD PORTIONS BEING CONNECTED TO A SECURING MEANS RECEIVING PORTION DISPOSED BENEATH AT LEAST ONE OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND SHEATH PORTIONS. 